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Momodou
Denmark
11803 Posts |
 Posted - 12 Jan 2008 : 23:23:36
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OPINION
A dangerous cult syndrome looms in The Gambia
By D. A. Jawo
While I wish to join other Gambians and non-Gambians alike in congratulating President Yahya Jammeh and his wife on the birth of their baby son, Mohamed, I also wish to take this opportunity to make my own observations on what I perceive to be a negative trend in the development of this country.
Like most other Gambians concerned about the welfare of this country, I am very much concerned about the wide implications of the lavish ceremony that was organized for the naming ceremony for Baby Mohamed. Apart from the unnecessary cost that was no doubt involved, it was also quite unprecedented for a naming ceremony anywhere in the world to be declared a public holiday. It certainly does not happen in even the most autocratic regimes, let alone in a country which claims to be a democracy. I have no doubt that it has never happened even in a country like Turkmenistan, whose former leader, Saparmurat Niyazov, not only ordered his citizens to call him Turkmenbashi, or father of the Turkmen, but also created the world’s most relentless personality cult. Among his actions was to rename the month of January after himself and April after his mother. He also banned such mundane things like ballet dancing, gold teeth and recorded music, and ordered the construction of a lake in the midst of the desert and a ski resort on the snowless foothills of the Turkmenistan border with Iran. Are we heading for such a situation in The Gambia?
What we have seen is certainly an apparent indication that The Gambia is gradually sliding towards a cult syndrome of the worst proportion ever seen in Africa, worse than what happened under such dictators like Jean Bedel Bokassa and Idi Amin Dada. In fact, even such buffoons had never declared the naming ceremonies of their children as public holidays. We therefore seem to be dealing with a more strange phenomenon.
Apart from the millions of Dalasi no doubt spent on the occasion, we can also imagine the great loss suffered by both the public and the private sector for being forced to take an unplanned public holiday as well as the mobilization of government resources, including the engagement of the Gambia Radio and Television Services for the whole day to broadcast messages and commentary in support of President Jammeh and Baby Mohamed, as if it is a private institution owned and financed by him alone.
We were also witnesses to the millions of Dalasi worth of gifts made to President Jammeh, during the run up to the naming ceremony, which included money which belonged to the Gambian tax payers being donated by parastatals and other public institutions without the authority of the tax payers. It is indeed quite hard for anyone to justify the use of public funds to pay for anyone’s naming ceremony.
Another interesting aspect of this unprecedented naming ceremony was the gender dimension. While this is not the first time that President Jammeh is having a child, but one would tend to ask why this naming ceremony is more lavish and elaborate than the naming ceremony of Mariam, his first child. Of course, the only sensible conclusion is that he values a boy child more than he values a girl child. This is indeed a big challenge to the gender activists to find out from him why he chose to so blatantly manifest his gender bias in favour of the boy child.
This strange phenomenon is no doubt what prompted some of the numerous musicians and praise singers engaged for the occasion to call Baby Mohamed, the prince. He indeed has all the trappings of a crown prince, and it is even possible that someone may be thinking of him being groomed to eventually take over this country, especially when his father has already told us that he intends to be in office for the next 30 years.
Indeed, the cult syndrome, being clearly manifested in this country, was quite evident when every song during the naming ceremony was in praise of President Jammeh, giving the impression that he is a more superior human being than anyone ever born in this country. In fact, one of the numerous civil servants who conveyed gifts to State House, for want of a better term to sing praises to President Jammeh, described Baby Mohamed as “a son of the nation”, as if the other children of this country are not sons of the nation.
I really wonder how people from our neighbouring countries and the rest of the world are viewing us. Of course some Gambians, concerned about the reputation of this country and its people are quite embarrassed by the trend that is developing in the country. It is hard to see how we can gain the respect of the rest of the world if we continue to behave and treat our head of state as a super human being, to the extent that our government would declare the birthday of his son a public holiday.
Despite all those negative implications that go with this unusual ceremony, we still saw Gambians, of all strata and persuasion, flock into State House to partake in the lavish ceremony, including our religious leaders who we expect to speak against such wastage. This country is definitely heading for the rocks, unless such a negative trend is halted.
Source: Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No. 003/2008, 7 – 8 January 2008
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Dalton1
3485 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2008 : 16:07:38
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Well put Uncle DA! To a fact, the gallant Foroyaa argued on such stipulations on Gambia's constitution through which public holidays can be allocated. It remains to be seen that the Gambia's constitution has been reduced to a mere toilet paper by the very criminal rulers who took oath to defend its existence.
(Courtesy of All Africa)
http://allafrica.com/stories/200801090716.html
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"There is no god but Allah (SWT); and Muhammad (SAW)is His last messenger." shahadah. Fear & Worship Allah (SWT) Alone! (:
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Karamba
United Kingdom
3820 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2008 : 16:38:03
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The era of unholy brutality against a docile citizenry is way gone. Unfortunately for the regime in Gambia and all those fanatical blind supporters the citizenry of Gambia progresses on the tracks of higher sophistication day by day to be taken for insensible ride by a brute force. Changing parts of the constitution to claim additional powers of brutality and dominance is a very unwise choice by the sickening APRC club of bandits. They have their sums wrong. It is not possible that a man with criminal intention emerged on Gambia's tolerant citizenry by the accidental occasion of a coup. For that same criminal to nurture the criminal sentiment of choosing his one month baby boy as successor, that is unthinkable. All indications are that the criminal calling himself president will soon have his sycophants calling the baby prince and to induce the sentiment of regarding him as natural successor. No! that is not possible. By the time the little person grows his father will be facing the laws for the crimes of involving in a coup and for all the stolen state money. Things may look colourful today. When matters reach their zenith nobody will tell the criminals what's up. |
Karamba |
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